Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque

Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque Mostar Reviews

A piece of Turkey a few miles away from the Croatian coast!Jun 06, 2011

In the last years, the Croatian coast (Dalmatian) has been gaining on popularity among European traveler. Many of these traveler however tend to stick to the coast without venturing further East into the countryside. That unknown countryside is however full of surprises. The little city of Mostar is one of them.

Located 70 miles away from the Mediterranean coast, Mostar is the first big city the traveler encounters after having crossed the Bosnian border while driving eastbound along the Neretva river. The city is particularly striking because of multicultural (and above all multi-confessional) atmosphere. All the big religions of the Balkans are here represented: Roman Catholics, Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Jews. The Ottoman quarter is impressive with all its mosques, its small bazaar and its typical restaurants. It really shows what a small town of the Ottoman empire looked like a few decades ago...

The Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque (signposted as Koski Mehmed Pasina Dzamija)is on the main street, running by the side of the river, in the Old Town.

You go in through a small gate and find yourself in the courtyard. There is a drinking fountain here as well,the sadrvan fountain,which has been there since 1781. It was one of a set of 5 in Mostar, and the only other one remaining today is outside the Karadoz Bey Mosque

Entry to the mosque is 2KM(€1) and an extra 2KM to go up the minaret. Surprised at how relaxed the dress code was, they were happy to let you in with shorts and women didn't have to cover heads or shoulders.

You don't have to take shoes off,and are allowed to walk anywhere in the mosque on the green carpet. This is almost all of it, and the areas without the green carpet are roped off.

The main part of the mosque is nice to look at and there is a big rug on display that was a gift from the Austo-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph. During the Balkans war they managed to save it, but it does have a bit of damage to it.

The highlight though is the view from the top of the minaret. Quite simply the best view you'll get of the Stari Most(Old Bridge). A very narrow stone spiral staircase to reach the top, and there isn't room for more then half a dozen people at the top.

Back on the ground you can go and wander in the garden down by the river. Not overly impressive, but again great view of the river and the bridge and we found quite a few local people sitting here on benches resting or reading.